Chapman University's biggest scholarship fundraiser is the annual "American Celebration," held in the first week of November. The two night event is a "Broadway"–style musical stage show put on by Chapman students.

The celebration is the top grossing scholarship funding event in Orange County, Chapman officials said.

"Over the last two to three years, it has raised more than $2 million for student scholarships. All of it, every last bit, goes to scholarships to help kids who otherwise couldn't afford to go to a private school," said Mary Platt, Chapman's director of communications.

Opening night is $40 per person. The next day is a black tie gala and dinner, for which tickets start at $2,000.

"It always sells out, every year. The kids put their all in for it," said Platt. "It's one of our top ways we touch the public each year, make new friends and reconnect with old ones."

About 30 years ago, professors James Doti and Esmael Adibi started number crunching with students and came up with what is now one of the top attended business events in the county: The Economic Forecast.

This year the initial forecast is scheduled for Nov. 25.

Chapman University students put out the annual forecast theorizing the direction of the economy using a system call econometrics. It has now become so popular that the venue changed to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts to make room for the attendees. There is also a mid-year update in the spring.

"It's essentially the biggest venue in O.C., not counting the arenas," said Platt. "Doti and Adibi are so entertaining on stage, a big part of the event is their personality. They make economics fun and informative.

This year's homecoming celebration Oct. 4-6 features not only football but a 5K, chili cook-off, day of service and education class sit-ins.

The traditional homecoming football game is more than a pep rally for Chapman; it's a big social event for an alumni get-together and to invite the community to come to campus.

"We call the Chapman 5K the 'fastest flattest and funnest' 5K in the world and it draws top runners from all over," said Platt. "It goes right through Old Town Orange and is straight flat running through some of the most scenic neighborhoods, and everyone who finishes gets a medal."

The 4th Annual Chili Cook-Off features campus organizations competing for which department, Greek House, or other campus organization has the best chili. Tasters buy a pass to try out and rank each chili.

The day of service is a community outreach event where people can sign up to help all over the city with civic projects. The education classes are courses that alumni can audit for a day and learn.

This will be the first year for the Global Arts Festival, which is projected to be held in February. The festival will pick a culture each year to focus in and delve into the music, food, culture and history of that culture or nation for the course of a week.

This year's pick is Russia.

"We picked Russia for a number of reasons," Platt said.

There are a number of people at Chapman who can speak about the music of Russia and aspects of Russian culture. Chapman is also home to The Escalette Permanent Collection of Art, which contains a collection of historic Russian icons donated to the university by the late Mrs. Evelynn Hoover LaLanne of Laguna Beach.

TEDX CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

This two-night event in the spring showcases "Ideas Worth Spreading." The TED talks started as a conference in the 1980s to discuss Technology, Education and Design. Now, TED has spread internationally to include mini-events hosted in communities and college campuses.

The Chapman TEDx event is structured like all TED symposiums: each speaker gets up to 18 minutes to talk to the audience about a concept, philosophy or new way to do something.

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